Gang violence in Haiti continues to be rampant, wreaking havoc among the population, especially children. According to the latest report from the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), published on April 19, 2024, at least 82 Haitian children were killed or injured between January and March 2024.
“At least 82 children, some as young as six years old, were killed or injured during the first quarter of 2024. Nearly half of the victims were struck by bullets during violent gang attacks on their neighborhood or clashes between gangs and police,” the report reads.
According to BINUH, twenty-two of these children were killed or injured following a fire caused by an explosion inside a store, while members of the population, encouraged by the gangs, were looting it.
“On January 12, a 12-year-old boy taking a public transport bus was stopped by members of the informal checkpoint group because he was carrying weapons and ammunition in his backpack. He was interrogated, then taken to a local cemetery and killed. The weapons he was carrying were apparently intended to supply members of the Grand Ravine gang,” reports BINUH.
According to the UN office, in addition to the loss of life, gang violence in Haiti has also had an impact on the access of children and their families to educational and health services, as well as on food security.
A report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) indicates that beyond the direct victims of the violence, more than 90,000 people have been forced to flee their homes to take refuge in temporary shelters in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince.
The security situation in Haiti has become increasingly worrying, with consequences on both a political and humanitarian level. Sylvie Bertrand, UNODC regional representative, stressed that currently the country is facing “unprecedented levels of anarchy”.
According to the last rapport of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on illegal arms trafficking in Haiti, an increase in the trafficking of increasingly sophisticated weapons has been noted since 2021. From Russian AK-47s to From American-made AR15s to Israeli Galil assault rifles, these weapons are fueling widespread violence, marked by attacks, mass looting and kidnappings.
Some Haitian gangs now have larger arsenals than the police, making the situation even more difficult to control. Efforts to stem arms trafficking are being hampered by gangs’ expanding control over strategic points such as ports and roads, UN experts say.
